Sandwiches
As a result of packing for the final step in our move out west, I spent a good part of last month eating a lot more sandwiches than any other kind of food. It’s a good thing, then, that I happen to like sandwiches. Appropriate to Independence Day, a sandwich is democracy in a lunch box. These great equalizers feed us all during the work day, whether our lunch is taken at a desk, in a break room, or amidst the flotilla of open packing boxes. Sandwiches provide us with a gobble in the middle of the night, sustenance when we’re traveling, dinner when we’re on deadline.
Most cultures have a version of food that’s served wrapped in bread, but the sandwich displays its significance at the American Table. No New York City deli or diner is worth its short change if it cannot deliver a deli bacon, egg and cheese, known in local parlance as a heart attack on a roll. Have them season your BEC with salt and pepper and you’re in the boroughs; substitute ham for the bacon and you’re in the Jerse. Katz’s plates towering creations of hot pastrami or corned beef on rye with swiss and brown mustard, while any pizzeria is measured not just by its “pepperoni slice” but by its hot meatball pahm, served on a toasted deli roll and self-resurrecting from a drenching of red sauce and a veil of melted provolone.
A true American classic is tuna salad on white. In our urban home, we like to serve our tuna salad open faced on thick slices of sourdough toast. Top your open-faced tuna melt with slices of American or cheddar and sear them under the broiler and for a grandma-approved tuna melt. Open-faced sandwiches don’t travel well, so for the picnic and beach blankets, we pack a double batch of Urban Home Blog’s official recipe for tuna salad, a bag of deli rolls, and a supply of cole slaw or pasta salad and home-canned pickles.
In Hollywood, golden era glamour is never far away. Hollywood Forever shows films during the summer. The line is long but well worth the wait, and a wine-country influenced picnic basket is de rigeur. For this or any community evening on the lawn from movie night to Fourth of July concert, pack a chilled white wine, some dips and a crusty loaf from the bakery. To truly honor the past, bake a loaf of date-nut or cranberry-orange tea bread, and serve slices smeared with honeyed cream cheese.
Urban Home has recipes for a heroic hero sandwich, the ultimate turkey sandwich, even classic grilled cheese. Don’t forget – a hamburger or turkey burger is a sandwich too. We have a library of side dishes, many portable, including Fire and Ice, French Potato Salad, Fruit Salad and Three Bean Salad. A tub of gazpacho travels well and is welcome, as does and is a jar of rose sangria. We even have cookies for dessert.
As everyone is reminded at Thanksgiving, leftovers make great sandwiches, but so do cold cuts from the deli. A stop by the deli counter while grocery shopping ensures that there are always sandwich fixings in the fridge, which is a godsend when foragers are pressed for time. While there is never anything wrong with making a special trip to a delicatessen for the best cold cuts, most of the cuts at a well-kept supermarket deli are just fine. Take a number to have your cold cuts carved fresh. It is okay to ask to see and taste the cold cut before you buy. If it looks, smells or tastes off, then it probably is, so ask them to open a fresh one. Don’t buy more than you will use in a few days; typically between 1/3 and1/2 pound.
In honor of sandwiches, here is one of its supreme expressions: roast beef with cheddar. This sandwich is substantial and special enough to be a meal in its own right. This sandwich is easy to make using supermarket cold cuts, or would be good if you have leftover slices of London Broil.
Roast Beef Sandwich with Cheddar, Red Onion and Horseradish
A mandoline is a good piece of equipment to have in your urban kitchen; be sure to use it with a food-safe metal glove. We like ceramic blade mandolines; you can get a good one here. Click here for Urban Home Blog's Guide to Kitchen Tools. Fresh prepared horseradish is available in the supermarket in the fresh produce, kosher, or dairy aisles. This recipe makes two sandwiches.
2 deli onion rolls
½ pound deli roast beef, either top round or London Broil
½ pound deli black wax cheddar
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh prepared horseradish
1 red onion
Freshly ground black pepper
Most cultures have a version of food that’s served wrapped in bread, but the sandwich displays its significance at the American Table. No New York City deli or diner is worth its short change if it cannot deliver a deli bacon, egg and cheese, known in local parlance as a heart attack on a roll. Have them season your BEC with salt and pepper and you’re in the boroughs; substitute ham for the bacon and you’re in the Jerse. Katz’s plates towering creations of hot pastrami or corned beef on rye with swiss and brown mustard, while any pizzeria is measured not just by its “pepperoni slice” but by its hot meatball pahm, served on a toasted deli roll and self-resurrecting from a drenching of red sauce and a veil of melted provolone.
A true American classic is tuna salad on white. In our urban home, we like to serve our tuna salad open faced on thick slices of sourdough toast. Top your open-faced tuna melt with slices of American or cheddar and sear them under the broiler and for a grandma-approved tuna melt. Open-faced sandwiches don’t travel well, so for the picnic and beach blankets, we pack a double batch of Urban Home Blog’s official recipe for tuna salad, a bag of deli rolls, and a supply of cole slaw or pasta salad and home-canned pickles.
In Hollywood, golden era glamour is never far away. Hollywood Forever shows films during the summer. The line is long but well worth the wait, and a wine-country influenced picnic basket is de rigeur. For this or any community evening on the lawn from movie night to Fourth of July concert, pack a chilled white wine, some dips and a crusty loaf from the bakery. To truly honor the past, bake a loaf of date-nut or cranberry-orange tea bread, and serve slices smeared with honeyed cream cheese.
Urban Home has recipes for a heroic hero sandwich, the ultimate turkey sandwich, even classic grilled cheese. Don’t forget – a hamburger or turkey burger is a sandwich too. We have a library of side dishes, many portable, including Fire and Ice, French Potato Salad, Fruit Salad and Three Bean Salad. A tub of gazpacho travels well and is welcome, as does and is a jar of rose sangria. We even have cookies for dessert.
As everyone is reminded at Thanksgiving, leftovers make great sandwiches, but so do cold cuts from the deli. A stop by the deli counter while grocery shopping ensures that there are always sandwich fixings in the fridge, which is a godsend when foragers are pressed for time. While there is never anything wrong with making a special trip to a delicatessen for the best cold cuts, most of the cuts at a well-kept supermarket deli are just fine. Take a number to have your cold cuts carved fresh. It is okay to ask to see and taste the cold cut before you buy. If it looks, smells or tastes off, then it probably is, so ask them to open a fresh one. Don’t buy more than you will use in a few days; typically between 1/3 and1/2 pound.
In honor of sandwiches, here is one of its supreme expressions: roast beef with cheddar. This sandwich is substantial and special enough to be a meal in its own right. This sandwich is easy to make using supermarket cold cuts, or would be good if you have leftover slices of London Broil.
Roast Beef Sandwich with Cheddar, Red Onion and Horseradish
A mandoline is a good piece of equipment to have in your urban kitchen; be sure to use it with a food-safe metal glove. We like ceramic blade mandolines; you can get a good one here. Click here for Urban Home Blog's Guide to Kitchen Tools. Fresh prepared horseradish is available in the supermarket in the fresh produce, kosher, or dairy aisles. This recipe makes two sandwiches.
2 deli onion rolls
½ pound deli roast beef, either top round or London Broil
½ pound deli black wax cheddar
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh prepared horseradish
1 red onion
Freshly ground black pepper
- Measure the horseradish into a small sieve. Place the sieve over a cup or bowl and set aside to drain.
- Use a sharp knife to remove the stem and root ends from the onion. Peel the papery outer skin from the onion.
- Position the mandoline on a clean cutting board devoted to vegetables with the blade facing upwards. Put the metal glove on the hand that you will use to cut the onion.
- Position the onion cut side down at the top of the mandoline. Position the guard over the onion.
- Use your gloved hand along with the safety guard to safely guide the onion down the mandoline and across the blade. Let the onion fall to the cutting board as you gently move the onion back and forth. Stop when you have enough onion for two sandwiches; typically three or four passes over the blade.
- Measure the mayonnaise into a small bowl. Shake the sieve to express the last of the liquid from the horseradish.
- Add the drained horseradish to the mayonnaise. Use a small whisk or a fork to mix the two ingredients together.
- Use a bread knife to slice the rolls open horizontally. Spread the rolls open and lay, cut side up, on a clean bread board.
- Place a dollop of the horseradish mixture on each of the four slices of roll. Spread the mixture across each slice.
- Open the packets containing the deli meat and cheese. Distribute the roast beef between the two bottom halves of the rolls.
- Season the roast beef with freshly ground black pepper.
- Add shaved red onion to taste to the seasoned roast beef.
- Place two – three slices according to taste of cheddar on each sandwich.
- Position the top halves of the rolls on the sandwiches.
- Use the bread knife to cut each sandwich in half. Wrap for transportation or serve.
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